1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food and drink conveying system, set in an eating place, a sushi shop in particular, for circulating e.g. dished-up sushi by means of a circulating conveying path so that customers can take the circulating dished-up sushi at their own choice.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, there have been an increasing number of sushi shops that have introduced a food and drink conveying system having a circulating conveying path that circulates along a number of tables or counters set in the sushi shop. In the sushi shop using the food and drink conveying system, a food preparer makes sushi in the kitchen by making a small, oval-shaped, vinegared rice ball and then putting a topping, such as raw fish, on the vinegard rice ball; dishes up the sushi on a plate; and puts the plate on the circulating conveying path, to sequentially convey the dished-up sushi on the plate to respective tables in the dining area so that customers can take from the circulating sushi the variety of their own choice.
The food and drink conveying system is designed to supply dished-up foods and drinks to the circulating conveying path, as mentioned above. The foods and drinks on the circulating conveying path are circulated all the time and, accordingly, it is very hard for the food preparer to keep track of the number of foods or drinks per sort of article. Due to this, the conventional conveying system has the disadvantage that some sorts of articles which are in big demand are sometimes all gone from the circulating conveying path without the food preparer""s knowledge, resulting in inconvenience to the customers.
In consideration of this circumstance, the present invention has been developed. It is the object of the invention to provide a food and drink conveying system capable of keeping track of the number of foods and drinks placed on the circulating conveying path per sort of article, and that is also capable of informing the food preparer of the sorts and the number of insufficient articles.
To achieve the object above, the present invention is directed to a novel food and drink conveying system wherein display members for displaying sorts of foods and drinks are placed on a circulating conveying path, and the foods and drinks displayed by the display members are placed in order following after their respective display members. The food and drink conveying system of the present invention comprises food and drink detecting means for detecting the sorts of foods and drinks displayed on the display members placed on the circulating conveying path and the number of foods and drinks placed on the circulating conveying path following after their respective display members; an optimum number setting means for setting an optimum number of foods and drinks to be placed following after their respective display members placed on the circulating conveying path; number judgment means for judging whether or not the number of foods and drinks placed on the circulating conveying path are the optimum number set by the optimum number setting means based on signals output from the food and drink detecting means; and display means for displaying the sorts of and the number of insufficient foods and drinks when the number judgment means judges that the number of foods and drinks placed on the circulating conveying path is smaller than the optimum number set by the optimum number setting means, so that a food preparer can be informed of the sorts and number of insufficient foods and drinks. This construction can produce the result that the food preparer can immediately know about the sorts and number of insufficient foods and drinks by simply watching the display means. This can provide the advantage that the food preparer can only be required to make sushi or other foods in order in accordance with the information displayed on the display means, without worrying about the number and sorts of sushi or other foods flowing over the circulating conveying path, as in the prior art.